Sewer cleaner



A. B. UTLEY SEWER CLEANER Filed Nov. 28, 1932 July 18, 1933.

Patented July 1K8,

. v I Amitie man; SPINGFI'EiiS# LiVISSOUM; ff]

1 Appuc'a'taonimea November presas/serial intensas.vr .7

- 14This invention relates vto improvements in sewercleaners,particularly a type of cleanil.A designed to extractmatterwliich :.clogs'; Watelf sewers ion 1 conduits, `especially A Afibrous roots 5 which areoft'en `found toentervwaterfsewers l" through seamsand ).ointsyand `which.after having thus lentered continue' to groyv, form: ing a fibrous mass which obstruct-s the flow of sewage through the conduit, causing other 1.0 matter to collect rat this pointI finally stopping tjlielgflow completely. *y l 1 .This form off obstructgin.hasproven` to be one of themostseriousto confrontthe plumbing profession due tothe fact that-it fhas-been 15 almostimpossi'ble to complete-ly clear a sewer` of suchen obstruction; inasmuch as when vaty tempting to do so. withtheforms-fof,` cleaners infuse' previous-to-,iny inventiony of ythe {present device it has been'diicultto secure -a sub'- 29 stantialyholdupon such ai mass of fibrous matter,` thevresult lbeing to tear -small bits fof the obstructionlooseiand finally secure a restricted openingv through same which allows a flow of sewagetemporarily,the fibrousv 2,5 troots remaining inthesewerto grow andacvcumulate. another y' mass which )inevitably Yc'logsthensewer fargainl Unless y the roots fa-re lbroken,loose-at the source or `entrance into `the sewer theywill continue to vgrow .and .3,0 formfniassesioffibrousi:obstructions ,y Itis intothe mass forming the obstruction which v continues to accumulate upon the deviceun til it is filled with a solid, compact massl which will not readily tear or separate inthe process of extraction.

It will also be observed that means is provided `whereby thedevice will catch and'tear loose from the walls of the sewer any portion i `570 of the mass `which adheres thereto including massed roots.` n.

source `in-the case (of: In my experience to a large mass of roots whichwere sotenaciously of the entire lot-of roots. v zi.

had itto fasten itself withgsuchsecurity 5 fastened inthesewerthatitwas necessaryto fr: .use ahorse onthecable toextract thel mass, such efforts resulting, in the com-plete reinoyal point wherek the` roots enter the,,Sewer` and` l brealrthesewerl at this` point vto 'remove lthe massandinasmuchas it isusually found :that

separate-points inthe sewerfby the `root-sf;hav;-

ing centered at. diernt iene, it .become 5,. f necessary t0,- dO af'ensiderabl amount? 0f f f vvdiggi-ng'amil breaking ofthe .sewer to ridit'z r l' of i these obstructions, Iwith `,tlieatte1idant re.-A

pair worlwhich follows such operatioens,` ,y M With3f1nyi1rventionitisonlynecessaryfto K gain entrance to the, sewer a`t1 .oney point to .removetheeverliebsrrutiens and further? more, this openingyneed not be.locatedl atthe `exact V.point of-any obstruction but :maybe 'f I made at :any convenient ipoint, iny the. sewer ,within reasonable .distance of .the obstruction.

jvIt will also be noted `that mydeviceis `of a compact form- .andfor ,use combination deviation fromma straigh linefsuchQlQas Y branchesf.and'.,1/gth bendslwvliich enlarges' f l 4.sca `@fofyits@,ra-@tivaluse` v l" side e from the` rincipalfunctionofthis i devlce.; 1. e., the removal ofpmassed roots from L sewersit 1s useful asa plunger forcleaning v sewer traps and hopper vclosets by screwing' it into a a swab."l l.

Other objects and i vention ywill be pointed OutinthedetaiIed description appearing hereinafter,and in `orstood, reference is had to the accompanying drawing in which: 'y

device which is composedofa'hub or central piece of burlapor the likeforming advantages of this` iny' Fig.` 1'1s a perspectiveview showing the y. i. i

Ordinarily, withoutxthe us 59 it is necessaryto digdovvnf and locat/egthe i t y i massesof roots havebeen,formedffat several i der that the vinvention may be better under-` part 1, to which'is attached"lconcentrically 1.00

ywound helical spirals 2' forming screws, the

eXtreme ends (a) of which are pointed. At-

tached to the central part 1 are curved prongsy or spurs 3 extending radially to approxi-v lmately the same diameter of the spirals 2 and ing no claim as to this particular method of fastening inasmuch as my invention does not include the cable to which device must be attached for operation but am showing -this method of attaching'as a means of teaching construction and operation of ymy device. Any other'substantial ymeans of connection of this device tothe cablev would be satisfactory, such as welding, clamping, etc.

' F ig. 2 isa horizontal view of the device.

.i to which are assigned the same numbers and letters designating the various parts as given to Fig. l, with the addition of 4 'which is the threaded cable-end.

of the spirals 2'are sharpened at (a) for easy entrance into the mass ofcsewer obstruction and the parts `vformingthese spirals should preferably be tapered toward theirextreme pointedA ends for best-operation.' 'Ihe spiral portions 2 andthe curved yprongs 3 may be welded to the central portion l. l

' Fig. 3^shows a sectional view kof a sewer in which the device is being' attached to a mass of roots. yThis View also'yshows the use of the cable'inconnection with this device. In this viewthe device is designated by the letter (f), (g) designates the cable, (h) the sewer and (i, z', 71)"'show the masses of lfibrous 'roots' whichhave entered vthe seweratthe seams. In operation this Vdeviceisi secured =to the end of 'acable (g) which vis flexible enough 'to make the necessary bends in the sewer and yet rigid enough towithstand suflicient twisting forceto operate the device and yhaving madean opening into the sewer at a convenient point r 'the device is inserted into the lsewer'v andpushed along bythe cable until e itt're'achesthe obstruction after which' it is screwed into the mass of lobstructing,matter soV It willfbe observed that the forward ends I' 'having attached thereto a pluralityof conn ,tok en age alsewerobstruction.'y y

f 8. 'sewer cleaner comprislng a central hub byL twisting the cable. This 'twisting is continued until the obstruction is loosened or until the device hasksecured a substantial hold upon the obstruction, after which it is withdrawn from the sewer by means of the cable, bringing the obstruction withit. It will be observed that as the parts'2 enter the obstruction the twisting action-ofthe spirals tend to draw the obstruction into a compactmass while the prongs 3 servetosev'ervfrom the walls of the sewer any portion of matter which may adhere thereto such as the princi--V pal roots inV the case of root obstructions.

Fig. 3 also shows how/an opening is made in the ground (le) and through'the sewer M).- i

" It is obvious that amore secure hold can `be obtained upon a mass of roots withl this device thanpwith any device employing ysimple hooks, prongs or spearsinasmuch as the spirals in vmy device operate as an extract- 'Y in grmedium throughout their entire length -giving the maximum grasp upon the obstruc tion. Y.

l. A sewer cleaner comprising a central hub centrically wound vhelical spiral parts forming intertwined screws, said spiral parts'hav` Ving their frontal ends pointed,curved radiinto a sewer obstruction. v

` v 2.k A vsewer cleaner'comprisinga combination ofa @plurality of concentricallyl wound `helical screws and a .plurality of'ira'diating curved prongs with means for turning same cable whereby'said cleaner may be screwed to which is attached a plurality of sharpened rods, said rods being woundinto concentric spirals forming screws for engaglng sewer obstruction, 'a plurality of radiating prongs attached to said hub forsevering sewery ob l ARTHUR B. UTLEY.

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